“This is something I have always wanted” - Award-winning Derry student April Canning

Some things can't be taught.

Compassion is one, and having an instinct for how to act in difficult situations is another. They are qualities that are invaluable in the medical profession, and it is clear that trainee nurse April Canning has both in abundance.

The 36-year-old, who is currently in the second year of a three-year course at Magee, recently won the NI Allstate Convocation Student of the Year award, an honour that covered all UU campuses and degrees.

A member of the voting committee took her aside at the ceremony and told her they felt she really stood out because of her obvious passion for nursing and her diligent approach to her studies.

Her dedication has earned other accolades: she was shortlisted for the RCN student of the year, won the 'serendipity' scholarship and was highly commended in the recent 'Best of Derry' awards.

The Shantallow native said: “I had always wanted to go into nursing, but I left Thornhill pregnant with my first son when I was 16 and had my four children by the time I was 24, so going to university just wasn't an option at that time.

“I managed to get my health and social care qualifications and I was working as a carer for a while, but two of my children have learning difficulties and it became too hard to work full-time, as that kept me very busy in their early years.”

Ever resourceful, April opted to go self-employed, using her other talent as a make-up artist to earn a living. But the dream of becoming a nurse always burned within her, and so in 2021, with the wains all 'well up', as they say in Derry, she decided it was time.

The past two years have been nothing if not eventful. “I didn't exactly get off to what you would call a great start in my first placement,” she joked. “It was in theatres in Altnagelvin's DESU ward and I was watching a surgery take place, and after 20 minutes I passed out; I spent two hours in recovery! 

“I think it was just pure nerves, and nothing like that ever happened again, but I have never lived that down.”

SUPPORT: April with husband Paddy, sons Reece and Brandon, daughters Grace and Isobel and dog Pixie in the obligatory Christmas jammies picture!

The course is half theory and half practical, and she has already done several rotations out in the field: theatres, the cancer centre, rapid response, a nursing home and the mental health facility at Grangewood.

“It's been quite nerve-wracking being thrown in at the deep end,” she said. “Wherever you go, the staff don't mollycoddle you because you're there to learn. It was terrifying at the start and you do be thinking, 'am I going to make the right decision? Am I doing it right?

“But you soon get over that and settle in. It has been amazing, getting to watch a C-section being done or working with the pain management nurses, or just sitting with a patient and offering them some comfort.”

April is hoping to specialise in oncology once she qualifies and would love to work in the North West Cancer Centre in Altnagelvin, perhaps going on to become an advanced nurse practitioner.

She explained: “When my mother-in-law was sick with cancer, the family all cared for her and it seemed to spark something in me.

“I suppose some people might think it would be a grim job working in palliative care and with people approaching end-of-life stage, but having experienced that with my mother-in-law, I feel that being able to make someone's last days comfortable and pain-free, being able to help them in that way, is something I really want to do.

“I did one of my placements at the cancer centre and in my first week, I was in the room when a woman was being given some terrible news.

BORN TO DO IT: Student nurse April Canning

“She took it really bad and started crying, and I didn't know if I was allowed to intervene or not, but I ended up sitting beside her and holding her hand. Her family later posted something really nice about what I'd done on the 'care opinion' section of the NHS website, and that was very rewarding for me to know I had made a difference for someone in that really horrible moment.” 

It would be impossible not to absorb the feelings of pain and despair that are part and parcel of being a nurse, but April says she is a naturally upbeat person and gets plenty of support at home, in Creggan, from husband Paddy and children Reece, Brandon, Grace and Isobel.       

Having had an insight into the everyday working life of a nurse over the last two years, she is under no illusion that the profession into which she is about to enter will come with plenty of challenges.

“One of the most important things I have learned over the last two years,” she said, “is the amount of effort that goes into being a nurse.

“They make it look so easy, but there are so many different skills and duties they have to think about, and on top of that is the fact that you have somebody's life in your hands.

“Me and the other trainees have talked about that, and also about the staffing issues and the pressure that comes with the job.

“But I am a naturally positive person and I think I will be able to handle whatever is thrown at me. Being a nurse is something I have always wanted and I'm so glad to finally be doing it.”